It is an unusual feature to have a piece of railway rail on the wall in the FEPOW Side-chapel. It is a special artefact of great significance to FEPOW and Internees alike. All male POWs were the labour force that built the ‘Death Railway’ on the mainland of Asia through Thailand as part of the Japanese rapid advance through the Far East. What is less well known is that there was a second Death Railway on the island of Sumatra. Conditions were equally as brutal and harsh with ill treatment the rule rather than the exception. Disease, malnutrition and starvation was rife as a result of the meagre rations provided.
It has been estimated that each rail sleeper represented at least one man who died during the railway’s construction.
This piece of rail is from the actual railway cuttings that were being redeveloped some 30 years ago. It was acquired by a former President of the Birmingham Association of FEPOW, who offered the church this piece as a direct connection to the church’s dedication. Other pieces of original rail can be seen at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire. Please, feel free, to touch the rail to connect with those who died during its construction and whose names are listed in the Memorial Books.